


Willow's Birthday Party

by Interstellararia



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, all aboard the fluff train, doot doot, it's rated g but willow swears up a storm just so you know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 10:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6980899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Interstellararia/pseuds/Interstellararia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Willow Shepard is alive and well after Project Lazarus and is trying to catch up on the things she's missed. Her friend, Zuriel (who just so happens to have the same last name), along with the rest of the crew of the new Normandy plan a birthday bash for the Commander as a special thanks for all that she's done so far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Willow's Birthday Party

Zuriel sits atop one of the consoles in engineering with a data pad in his lap. It's a digital copy of one of his favorite books, the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. He'd probably sell his soul to get a physical copy of it (and he'd have to, that shit's expensive). The young man takes a chunk out of the apple in his palm and continues to read when something occurs to him.  
 _Willow has missed out on two birthdays._  
Apparently he's making a face since Tali asks what's wrong.  
"Wi-oh miffed oo birfays." _There's food in your mouth, chew it stupid!_ The quarian fails to hold back a laugh.  
"What?"  
Zuriel chews and swallows. "I said that Willow's missed two birthdays. That means she missed out on two parties!" He wipes the dribble of juice falling onto his chin. "We should fix that!"  
He barely catches Tali's eyebrow raising at him. He returns the action with a pout.  
"Willow deserves a break from all of this mess. Hell, we all do."  
"I second that." Ken notes from the other side of the engineering deck.  
"Quit eavesdropping!" Gabby elbows the man in the ribs, leaving him to go check on some equipment.  
"Where should we start?" Tali smiles up at the man perched on her console.  
"Lots of planning." He flicks the book closed on the datapad and opens up his notes. "How tall should the cake be?"  
"Hmm..." Tali taps the light on the front of her mask in thought. "At least 3 layers with the way this crew eats."  
Zuriel quickly writes it down in his notes. "I'll make special ones for you and Garrus since you guys don't handle our food well."  
"Oh, you don't have to."  
"I want to though! It's not fair if you don't get any." Zuriel smiles and sees her return the action under the mask. Part of him wants to see what's under it and see that smile without anything blocking it. _Shit! You're staring!_ His glittering green eyes turn back to the datapad. "What if we rented a hotel or something on the Citadel? We'd have enough room for everyone who wants to help with celebrations. Of course we'll have to ask everyone to change so no one thinks Cerberus is trying to take over the Citadel." He laughs softly and runs a hand through his short, black hair.   
"Is it going to be a fancy party?"  
"Doesn't have to be, but we can all dress nice for Willow if we'd like." Zuriel frowns at the floor. “That means I need to go buy something nice.” The rather ugly Cerberus uniform he'd been forced to wear just didn't make him look good. White was definitely not his color.  
“I'm sure you'll look good in whatever you pick.” Tali gives his knee a pat. “I'll talk with some of the other crewmembers and get them in on the plan.”  
“Ok cool. Should we try getting some decorations?”  
“A party isn't a party without decorations!” Ken has happily joined in on the discussion.  
Zuriel looks at his datapad. It might be a good idea to have planning teams.  
“Do you want to be in charge of getting decorations then?”  
“I'd be happy to! As long as we have a few rounds of Skillian Five poker at the party.”  
“Got it.” He takes note of the activity and who's in charge. “Hmmm… we should have someone in charge of invitations. I'm sure that Willow’s got a few friends that would like to show up.”  
“Perhaps I can assist.”  
EDI’s voice makes Zuriel jump and nearly drop the datapad. He's still not used to an AI on the ship.  
“Thanks. Would you be able to send something out to Anderson, Kaiden, Liara, and Wrex as well as the crew? Except for Willow of course. I'll bring her into the party myself.”  
“Yes. Will my assistance be needed elsewhere?”  
“Not that I can think of at the moment. I'll give you the party details once we get those figured out.” Zuriel makes a note that EDI’s doing the invitations.  
-  
Willow grumbles under her breath. _Cerberus this, Cerberus that. Give me a fucking break._ That's definitely what she needed. She's had it up to her eyeballs with all this Collector bullshit. The commander storms down the small set of stairs in her cabin and flops onto the bed. She lets out a muffled scream into the sheets. That's a little better, but not by much.  
The doorbell to her room chirps. She really didn't want anyone to see her pissed off beyond belief, so she slides off the bed and recomposes herself. She does a quick jog up the stairs and opens up the door to find Zuriel standing there with a datapad in his hand. There's some white stuff on the black part of his uniform, and she wasn't about to ask what that was.  
“Need something?”  
“Yes! I need you, come on!”  
“What?”  
“Tali, Garrus and I decided to go visit the Citadel today and want you to come with us. It's a well deserved break if I do say so myself.” He nods enthusiastically. “Besides, I wanted to go see the new _Blasto_ film.”  
“Thank fuck, let's go.”  
“Good. We were also considering going shopping after the movie to get some clothes without this silly orange logo making us stick out.”  
“I've got the most credits. I'll buy all the stuff.”  
“Ok, but the movie is my treat.” He points at her with a big smile.  
-  
Honestly, the new Blasto movie sucked. And that was Zuriel’s opinion, so you know it sucked that bad. He's a fairly good movie critiquer if he does say so himself.  
He angrily munches on the remainder of his popcorn as he, Tali, Garrus and Willow walk out of the theater. The trio are in the midst of arguing about the terribly rendered plot when Zuriel’s omnitool chirps. He swallows the food in his mouth before picking it up. The screen pops open to reveal his favorite councilor.  
“Hi Anderson!”  
“Hey. I don't think I'll be able to make it today. The council wanted to meet when I told them I had somewhere to be.”  
Zuriel sighs. “Next time then?”  
“Definitely.” Anderson smiles softly at him on the video chat. “I'll see if I can cut the meeting short though, wouldn't want to miss out on anything.”  
“We'll be ready and waiting for you, dad. DA- ANDERSON!” Zuriel sputters and stiffly salutes in embarrassment. Anderson laughs softly.  
“It's alright, son. You don't have to salute. See you later.” With that, the call ends. Zuriel turns to his friends to see all three staring at him. Willow’s biting her lip with a raised brow and Tali is covering the light on her mask with a hand. Her glowing eyes make it clear that she's amused by the goof up. Garrus seems to be too since he's doing his Turian smile.  
“Let's go shopping!” Zuriel lets his embarrassment fuel his speed as he rushes past the trio.  
-  
Of course. The one place we stop first is for fancy clothes. Willow pouts at the rows upon rows of dresses in front of her. Tali’s at her side, poking through the garments.  
“Oh! This one's nice!” The Quarian holds up a simple black dress with a neck cut way too low. If Willow dared to try it, it would probably make her boobs try to escape if she moved wrong.  
“Ah, little too low for my tastes.” Willow slowly works on poking her way through the racks and finds an absolute disaster of a dress, some awful frilly pink thing with sparkles out the ass. She can't help but laugh and show Tali.  
“You should try it on!”  
“Oh hell no.” All aboard the regret train. “Pink is not my color.”  
“But purple is.” Tali’s clearly smiling as she pulls out a pastel purple version of the frilly dress. “If you try it on and show it off to the boys, I'll wear whatever ridiculous thing you want me to try on and show off. Deal?”  
“It's a deal.” Now to find the most ridiculous item in the entire store for Tali to wear. That would turn out to be a harder thing to accomplish than she thought.  
-  
Zuriel gives Garrus a funny look.  
“What do you mean by ‘you have a certain look’ when Tali’s near?” Complete with air quotes.  
“You blush.”  
“I do not!” The young man pouts a little and picks up a dress uniform in black off the rack. Now that was definitely his color. Red too.  
“You are, and you're doing it right now.”  
Cue an offended inhale from Zuriel.  
“You should go ask her out! Do some traditional human stuff.”  
“I… I don't know… what if I make her sick?”  
“She's not going to catch a cold holding your hand, Z.”  
“I know, but-”  
“Ask her to go do something after shopping. I'll take Willow for a little walk and give her a tour of some of the new Citadel she's missed. She didn't get to explore much last time we were here.”  
-  
A little while later, the group met up in front of the dressing room. Tali had declared “Ladies first!” and dragged Willow inside before she could protest. The first one she was made to try on was the atrocious sparking purple number. She looks at herself in the mirror.  
“Jesus, I look like a high schooler ready for her first dance.”  
Tali hums softly as she ties the bow in back and make sure everything fits, quietly muttering something about the glitter not coming off her suit.  
Unfortunately, it was time for the big reveal. The Commander exits the dressing room with a frown to find Zuriel and Garrus staring at her with wide eyes.  
“Aww, you're so adorable!” The lieutenant teases, which earns him a hug. What? Willow laughs softly and turns to Garrus. Revenge sparkles are the best. Zuriel grumbles and attempts to brush the glitter off.  
“It's nice, just a bit puffy.” The Turian nods.  
Ha! Take that Tali.  
“Time for the next one!” Said Quarian eagerly awaits Willow’s return to the dressing room.  
-  
The next few dresses are pretty much disasters. Two boob explosions and one ill fitting garment later, Willow tries on a black one. It's fairly plain and would probably require a necklace so her collarbone wouldn't stick out as much. It also provides a nice contrast to her red hair. Other than that, it fits pretty well. Not like a suit of armor, but it'll do for anything fancy.  
“Ah! You look so nice! I mean you always do, Commander, but that dress really works for you!” Tali smiles.  
“You really think so?”  
“Yeah!” Tali exits the room and Willow hears her bring up a drum roll on her omnitool. It finishes and she takes that as her cue to arrive. She pulls off her best sassy model pose and smiles when Garrus’ mandibles flicker outwards, and his eyes widen.  
“You look great!” Zuriel grins and gives her a pair of thumbs up.  
“Yeah! You look great!” Garrus repeats the gesture done by his best friend.  
“Thanks!” Willow spins around to show off before returning to the dressing room. She'd definitely be purchasing this and part of her hoped to wear it soon.  
-  
Tali’s turn. All the outfits Willow found for her should easily fit over her environmental suit. Each bore a similar palette of gold, black and purple.  
The first was the atrociously poofy pink version of the first dress that Willow tried on. She actually wore it nicely and ended up giving a Zuriel a hug with the intention of friendship sparkles. It was so worth the image of Miranda getting peeved over a messy uniform. Zuriel wouldn't be getting any of those sparkles off for at least the next 3 months.  
The next dress was something similar to what Willow will be purchasing but unfortunately didn't have enough room in the chest, and it looked a little strange over her suit.  
A few fashion errors later, Tali exits the dressing room in an intricately patterned dress which is a deep purple with golden trim. Each side has a cut stopping at the middle of her thigh, creating easier movement. The dress is also backless.  
“Tah-dah! I really like this one.” She smiles and holds her hands behind her back.  
“You look really amazing!” Zuriel’s grinning and giving her the one look that Garrus pointed out. The turian nods in agreement.  
“Thanks!” Tali does the same spin around that Willow did before heading back to the dressing room. She pauses and looks back at the two of them. “You guys are next. I hope you picked out some good stuff!”  
-  
Garrus volun-drafted Zuriel to go first. The young man’s first ensemble is a classic, 21st century suit and tie. It fits well, but it's a little tight for the pants. Zuriel slides the overcoat on and looks at himself in the mirror. He sighs. Last time he wore something this fancy was back at his parents’ funeral. _Good clothes have a new meaning for you now._  
“Should I have a different colored tie? I feel like it needs a little something besides plain black.” He brushes off a corner of the jacket.  
“Hm, I think it works, but I can grab you a different one if you want.” Garrus nods.  
Zuriel makes a face at himself in the mirror. “Yeah. Something with a pattern, but nothing too atrocious.”  
“You got it.”  
Garrus ends up grabbing two. One, definitely atrocious as it has various swirls of neon on it. The other being the actual nice one with stars and galaxies patterned onto it. Rather than risking blinding himself or the women standing outside, Zuriel puts on the starry tie and walks out.  
“Tah-dah!”  
“Huh, turns out you can actually dress nice. Who knew?” Willow teases him with a smirk on her lips. Zuriel squints at her.  
“Oh stop that, he looks wonderful!” Tali waves Willow away and smiles.  
“Thanks.” Zuriel runs a hand through his hair sheepishly and glances at the floor.  
“Z, you've got more stuff you need to try on.” Garrus points out while dragging the said human back to the dressing room. He can also barely protest as the door closes. Zuriel sighs and works on getting into the next outfit. The next one has a slight resemblance to the Cerberus dress uniform he was given when he came aboard. Thanks Miranda. His discomfort with the similarity makes him take it off without going out to show it which earns him an impatient call from the other side of the door.  
“Come on out slowpoke!” Willow teases lightly as Tali laughs softly.  
“Give me a minute!” Zuriel whips on his next outfit, making him look somewhat disheveled. The neck hole on the shirt was a bit tight, making his hair puff up when he tugged it on. Something told him that Garrus grabbed a size too small since the shirt hugs his chest and pinching his shoulders. He pouts and steps outside.  
“Oh my god.” Willow snorts and can’t help but laugh.  
“It’s too small and if I breathe too deep, this thing is gonna rip.”  
“It looks good though! Perhaps if we could grab you one that fits…” Tali nods.  
“I second that motion.” Zuriel nods as well before zooming back into the dressing room. He quickly whips off the shirt and tries to fix his hair before starting to put on the next outfit. The young man puts on the dress pants but stops putting the shirt on when there’s a knock at the door. “Yeah?” Cue the door opening and making Zuriel jump. Willow promptly walks in, clearly not giving a shit about her lieutenant being shirtless in front of her.   
“Found the same shirt but a size up. That should work, but the trim on it’s different.” She holds up a black dress shirt with silver trim.  
“Oooh, that looks nice.”  
Willow promptly drops the shirt on his head. “Pick this one, you’ll look better for your date later as long as you fix your hair.”  
“Wait, what?!”  
“Have fun!” The commander winks and scurries out the door.  
-  
“What did you tell him in there?” Tali asks Willow after putting down her omnitool. She’d been showing Garrus a video of a kitten that Zuriel had showed her earlier.  
“Oh, just to look nice for later.” The commander smirks at her friend. _Oh no, does she know about the party?_  
“What’s later?”  
“Ah, nothing.”  
-  
Zuriel steps out in the shirt Willow gave him to try on after having fixed his hair. The outfit is clean and crisp, and actually quite comfortable. He shyly looks up at Tali and smiles when he sees a grin spread across her face. He’s definitely blushing.  
“Aww, you look wonderful!” Tali rushes forward and scoops Zuriel into a hug and quickly lets go in embarrassment.  
“Hm, now you’ll actually have a fighting chance with the ladies.”  
“Hey!” Zuriel pouts at Garrus as the turian pats his shoulder. He only receives a chuckle before being shoved back into the dressing room.  
-  
Garrus apparently already had a fancy outfit (or it was just his excuse for not wanting to try on things), so Willow gladly paid for the new clothes, and the group left.   
“I’m going to take our Commander up to the Presidium for a bit. Why don’t you two head back to the Normandy?” Garrus winks at Zuriel and Tali.   
“Good idea. I need to check how the engines are doing anyways.” Tali nods as her grip on her shopping bag tightens. Time to get the plan underway. Instead of going to the Normandy, the duo would head down to the rented out apartment space to make sure the party preparations were going alright. Besides, the two needed to deliver some streamers.   
“Alright, you two have fun and don’t get in trouble.” Willow points an accusatory finger at the two.  
“No promises.” Zuriel shrugs and waves a hand. The Commander squints and starts walking off, grabbing Garrus’ hand as she goes. Once they’re out of earshot, Tali turns to the lieutenant.  
“Come on! They’re waiting for us.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my drafts for a while so I thought I might as well finish it. I've got some planning to do for the second half and hopefully I'll have that done soon.


End file.
